Fractional CFO Services in Phoenix
Fractional CFO and controller services for Phoenix construction, contractors, distribution, manufacturing, and service businesses.
Arizona Coverage
Fractional CFO and Controller services for Phoenix-area businesses.
Vessel Advisors supports businesses across the Phoenix metro area and the broader Arizona market — construction contractors, real estate developers, manufacturers, professional service firms. Our team includes CFOs and Controllers local to Phoenix, backed by a vetted national bench of senior finance leaders who support businesses that need expert help.
Phoenix has been one of the fastest-growing business markets in the country. The pace creates opportunity — and exposes finance functions that haven't kept up.
How can we help?
What’s going on in your business and where would you like help?
An Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Company for two consecutive years.
The Market
Phoenix is the Sun Belt growth story made concrete.
The Phoenix metro passed 5.2 million people in 2025, adding 59,065 residents in one year, the fourth-largest gain of any US metro. Construction is at capacity. Real estate development hasn't slowed. TSMC has committed $265 billion to twelve Arizona facilities, and its first fab has been in volume production since late 2024. The population influx — from California, the Pacific Northwest, and the upper Midwest — drives healthcare, professional services, and consumer-facing businesses alike.
What makes Phoenix distinct from a finance standpoint: many of the businesses here scaled fast and never built the infrastructure they should have. Owners who started at $5M and are now $40M, with finance teams sized for the original company and processes that haven't been touched in years. The next stage — institutional capital, a sale, or generational transition — requires a different finance function than the one that got them here.
What we see most:
- Construction contractors and specialty trades scaling with the regional build-out — and trying to maintain margin discipline.
- Real estate developers and property management groups managing multi-entity portfolios and partner reporting.
- Manufacturers in the semiconductor supply chain and adjacent industrial sectors.
- Professional services firms — engineering, IT, consulting — scaling with the broader economic boom.
- Family businesses and founder-led operators preparing for the next stage they hadn't planned for.
Industries
Where we work most in Arizona.
Construction and the trades
Commercial general contractors, residential builders, specialty trades. WIP accounting, retention tracking, surety relationships, and job-cost discipline are the recurring pressure points. Our $110M commercial contractor case study details the work.
Real estate and development
Developers, property management groups, and multi-entity real estate operators. Equity-vs-debt waterfalls, partner reporting, property-level P&L, and tax structure across entities. More on how we serve real estate operators.
Manufacturing and industrial
Industrial manufacturers, semiconductor supply chain, and durable goods producers serving the regional build-out. Inventory accuracy, gross margin visibility, and standard cost discipline are common gaps. Our manufacturing case study shows the pattern.
Professional and technical services
Engineering, IT services, and consulting firms with utilization-based economics. Partner compensation, project profitability, and the discipline to scale beyond the founders.
Arizona Taxes and Compliance
Arizona's income taxes are low. Its tax on gross receipts is not.
A 2.5% flat income tax draws companies to Phoenix. The transaction privilege tax, the 2026 law changes and the employer rules decide what they keep.
Taxes
Transaction privilege tax
9.1% on retail sales in Phoenix
Arizona taxes the seller's privilege of doing business, not the buyer's purchase. A price or contract that doesn't pass the tax through pays it out of margin. Phoenix raised its share from 2.3% to 2.8% on July 1, 2025.
Income tax
4.9% corporate, 2.5% individual
Both rates are flat. For S corporations and LLCs, the 2.5% individual rate is the one that reaches the owner. Phoenix levies no city income tax.
Pass-through entity election
2.5% paid at the entity level
Partnerships and S corporations can pay Arizona tax at the entity level, which moves the deduction out from under the federal SALT cap. The election is made on the return, and owners get at least 60 days to opt out.
Business personal property
$500,000 exempt from 2026
The exemption on equipment and furniture rose from $269,905 to $500,000 of full cash value per taxpayer. A company whose equipment sits under that value owes no personal property tax on it.
Research credit
The refund ended in 2026
The credit is still 24% of the first $2.5 million of qualified research spending above the base. The refundable option for companies under 150 employees is repealed for tax years beginning in 2026, so unused credit now carries forward against future tax.
Federal conformity
Arizona adopted the 2025 federal law
A June 2026 law follows the federal code back to January 1, 2025, including immediate expensing of domestic research costs. C corporations still get no bonus depreciation in Arizona, and the new federal write-off for production property is added back from 2026.
Employers
Minimum wage
$15.15 an hour in 2026
Phoenix follows the state rate, which resets every January with inflation. Flagstaff pays $18.35 with no tip credit, and Tucson pays $15.45.
Paid sick time
40 hours a year at 15 or more employees
Employees earn one hour for every 30 worked. Employers under 15 people cap it at 24 hours. Unused time carries over unless the employer pays it out and front-loads the next year.
E-Verify
Required for every hire
Every Arizona employer has had to run new hires through E-Verify since 2008. Knowingly employing unauthorized workers can suspend a business license, and a second violation can revoke it.
Unemployment insurance
$8,000 wage base, 2.0% for new employers
The tax applies to the first $8,000 each employee earns, so most of the year's cost lands in the first months of the year. New employers pay 2.0% for at least two years before their own claims history sets the rate.
Not required in Arizona
No state leave, disability or retirement mandate
Arizona has no paid family leave program, no state disability insurance, no state retirement-plan mandate and no pay-range posting law. Companies relocating from California drop all four.
Final paychecks
Seven working days after a termination
A discharged employee is paid within seven working days or by the next regular payday, whichever comes first. An employee who resigns is paid on the next regular payday.
Questions Phoenix owners ask
How is construction taxed in Arizona?
New construction falls under the prime contracting classification, which taxes 65% of the contract's gross receipts. Maintenance, repair, replacement and alteration work is excluded; on those jobs the contractor pays the tax on materials at purchase. A contractor doing both kinds of work needs the job cost system to separate them. More on how we work with general contractors.
How fast do Arizona contractors have to be paid?
On private work, a billing is approved 14 days after the owner receives it unless the owner objects in writing, and payment is due seven days after approval. A general contractor pays its subcontractors within seven days of being paid. Retention on private jobs has no fixed percentage cap. The 10% retention that drops to 5% at half completion applies to public works only.
What are the mechanics' lien deadlines in Arizona?
A preliminary 20-day notice goes out within 20 days of first furnishing labor or materials. The lien itself is recorded within 120 days of completion, or within 60 days if the owner records a notice of completion.
Can a buyer inherit the seller's unpaid tax when buying an Arizona business?
Yes, for transaction privilege tax. The buyer has to hold back enough of the purchase price to cover it until the seller produces a receipt or a certificate from the Department of Revenue showing nothing is owed. A buyer who skips the holdback is personally liable for the seller's tax. The certificate belongs on the closing checklist. See how we help owners prepare a family business for sale.
Does community property affect ownership of my company?
Arizona is a community property state. An ownership interest acquired during marriage is presumed to belong to both spouses, which bears on buy-sell agreements, transfers and valuation. Both spouses must also sign any personal guaranty, which business lenders commonly require.
Are non-compete agreements enforceable in Arizona?
Arizona has no general statute on non-competes. Courts enforce them when the scope and duration are reasonable. A court will strike an unreasonable term but will not rewrite it, so an overbroad agreement can lose the restriction entirely.
When are Arizona unclaimed property reports due?
Most holders report before November 1, covering the twelve months ending June 30. Most property goes dormant after three years. Uncashed paychecks go dormant after one year.
Does an Arizona LLC file an annual report?
No. Corporations file an annual report with the Arizona Corporation Commission, at $45 for a for-profit company, and can be administratively dissolved for missing it. LLCs have no annual report requirement.
Figures verified October 2026 against the Arizona Revised Statutes, the Arizona Department of Revenue, the Industrial Commission of Arizona, the Arizona Department of Economic Security and the City of Phoenix. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
Phoenix Finance Talent
A senior finance hire in Phoenix costs $146,000 at the median.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 12,030 financial managers in the Phoenix metro, the category that covers controllers and finance directors. Median pay is $145,940, about 12% below the national median. The top tenth earns $269,990 or more, before benefits and payroll tax.
Maricopa County has 6,622 business locations with 50 to 499 employees, all drawing on that pool of 12,030 financial managers. A company that needs CFO judgment without paying for a full-time seat doesn't have to compete for one.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler MSA. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 and Vintage 2025 population estimates. City of Phoenix, July 2026.
How we engage.
When It's Broken
Put out the fire.
Interim CFO & Controller. At the loss of a key employee. When things crash or break. We deploy interim professionals — repairing what's broken and keeping the system running while you decide what's next.
When You're Building & Exiting
Advise and serve.
CFO, Controller & Accounting Team. Right-sized financial leadership — and the team to execute. Embedded for the long run. The CFO Power Team: right roles, right cost.
When You Don't Know What You Don't Know
Assessment services.
Financial Discovery Assessment. A structured deep-dive that reveals where your finance function stands today — and what it needs to support where you're going.
Transaction Readiness Assessment. Will the books and reporting tell the right story to a buyer or investor — and do the systems and processes support merger or acquisition activities?
Coverage
We cover Phoenix.
Our team includes CFOs and Controllers based in Phoenix. We staff engagements with local presence and pull in the vetted national bench when scope requires additional depth. Coverage area: Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, and the broader Arizona market.
Call the team
866-324-4473Our Proprietary Diagnostic
The Financial Discovery Assessment shows you what’s working, what’s missing, and the plan to get where the business needs to go.
Every Assessment applies the same structured examination — accounting systems and technology, processes and procedures, team members and team structure, and team-member will-skill — refined across hundreds of engagements in businesses that look like yours.
The output is the Financial Heat Map System: dollarized findings, hidden inefficiencies, and a sequenced plan. It’s presented at the Executive Action Meeting, where your stakeholders review findings and recommendations in non-clinical, non-technical language they can act on.
We’ve walked into hundreds of businesses at the stage yours is in now. We know where to look. We know how to fix what we find.
Prefer to call? 866-324-4473